variants
also flunkey
or flunkie
1
as in servant
a person hired to perform household or personal services
since I'm just the flunky who files his papers, I've no idea where he is
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sycophant
a person who flatters another in order to get ahead
a rock star who saw through the phonies and the flunkies
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of flunky
Tacoma is Seattle’s industrial flunky, the also-ran, the perennial embarrassment.
—
Caroline Fraser
june 10, Literary Hub, 10 June 2025
No matter what spec-chart flunkies might say about a car that merely hits 60 mph in 3.1 seconds, GT 63 proved as ferocious and exhilarating as any front-engine GT car available, whether German, Italian or English.
—Mark Ewing, Forbes, 30 Dec. 2024
Jin and his other flunkies excuse themselves, but Tetsu keeps Botan there to question him.
—Chris Klimek, Vulture, 24 July 2024
By quieting the clamor among the offended Giants, Mays was not acting as a flunky for his white manager.
—Aram Goudsouzian / Made By History, TIME, 25 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for flunky
Caroline Fraser
june 10, Literary Hub, 10 June 2025
No matter what spec-chart flunkies might say about a car that merely hits 60 mph in 3.1 seconds, GT 63 proved as ferocious and exhilarating as any front-engine GT car available, whether German, Italian or English.
—Mark Ewing, Forbes, 30 Dec. 2024
Jin and his other flunkies excuse themselves, but Tetsu keeps Botan there to question him.
—Chris Klimek, Vulture, 24 July 2024
By quieting the clamor among the offended Giants, Mays was not acting as a flunky for his white manager.
—Aram Goudsouzian / Made By History, TIME, 25 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for flunky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flunky
Noun
-
Nonetheless, the two become close, to the degree that they are compared to Don Quixote and his faithful servant Sancho Panza.—
Frank Scheck,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Their society was hierarchical, with those below the caciques known as the nitaínos (elites), behiques (perhaps shamans), and the naborías (usually servants and commoners).—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
If there were a Cruelty Olympics, Trump’s sycophants would all be elbowing each other for the gold.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Mercury News,
7 Oct. 2025
-
The only character who seems entirely transparent is Frederik, who can’t hide his resentment of his second-class spousal status or his contempt for the sycophants and mediocrities who cling to his wife like barnacles.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Tony & Ziva wrapped its rollercoaster of an espionage tale Thursday with an intense finale, which picked up with the titular pair once again going in search of their daughter Tali after she’s kidnapped by Jonah Markham’s (Julian Ovendon) lackeys.—
Katie Campione,
Deadline,
23 Oct. 2025
-
At the slightest provocation, Ye bullies, hectors, and screams at everyone from Paris fashion-show lackeys to the mother of his child.—
Derek Robertson,
The Washington Examiner,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Trump’s ego and his lickspittles’ desire to feed it, should have nothing to do with commemorating the founding.—
James Bickerton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Oct. 2025
-
California’s vulnerable House Republicans are a diverse gaggle that includes new blood and old-timers, a Trump antagonist and a Trump lickspittle.—
Michelle Cottle,
Mercury News,
24 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Angela Bettis gives one of the best horror performances of the decade as the title character, a deeply lonely veterinary assistant and amateur taxidermist with a lazy eye and no friends, who loses her already tenuous grip on reality after experiencing one too many romantic rejections.—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Oct. 2025
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The teaching assistant was seated on the floor with a luggage strap looped around her neck and tied to a closet doorknob.—
Christine Pelisek,
PEOPLE,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Like many digital beings, Reps, as Replika’s avatars are known, are engineered to be agreeable, nonjudgmental, and zealously supportive—i.e., suck-ups.—
Patricia Marx,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
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Matthew eventually one-ups the request by losing his boxers as well and going full Winnie the Pooh, which earns him the respect of his fellow suck-ups.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
23 Aug. 2025
Noun
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This draft meeting resembled a bully in the high school cafeteria seeking toadies — any veneer of scouting objectivity was shed.—
Michael Hurley,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Sep. 2025
-
In the past, Newsom denounced judges who ruled against them as toadies of the firearms industry.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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There’s a Redwall vibe to the third installment, as fan-favorite rattkin Fern gets carried away on an impromptu adventure involving a chaos-goblin who holds a bounty tempting enough for all the ne’er-do-wells to try and collect on.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
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In a video obtained by the Sun, Perry also hinted at their connection while rejecting another mid-concert proposal from a fan.—
Ashley Hume,
FOXNews.com,
2 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Flunky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flunky. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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